Members can now visit our dedicated UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (“CJRS”) page, which provides guidance on the scheme announced on 20 March 2020. Download our new factsheet on the who, what, where, when and why of the scheme. Last week the Institute’s UK Taxation Specialist Leontia Doran took part in an Ulster Society webinar on the CJRS. The online CJRS calculator has also now been updated. HMRC have also advised us today that payments for claims made on Monday 20 April will be in employers’ bank accounts by tomorrow (28 April).
Readers are also advised that the CJRS guidance has been updated again. You are advised to bookmark these links and print a copy of the guidance which applied at the time you submit your claim for the CJRS grant. The updated guidance is available at the following links:
Now that the scheme is up and running we’d like to hear about your experiences of the scheme and online portal.
HMRC also advise that any issues being experienced should also be reported to them via the online Agent Forum so that they can triage and respond to widespread issues more quickly.
Remember, in order to do so you must have signed up for and be logged into the Forum. All agents, who are a member of a professional body, are invited to join HMRC’s Agent Forum. This dedicated Agent Forum is hosted in a private area within the HMRC’s Online Customer Forum. You can interact with other agents and HMRC experts to discuss topical issues and processes.
The following live webinar provides a step-by-step guide on how to make a claim through the scheme:
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – How to make a claim: choose a date and time
During this webinar HMRC will be taking you through the following steps:
- essential information
- before you make your claim
- calculating your claim
- processing your claim
- after submitting your claim.
If you’ve missed any of HMRC’s other recent webinars, or have been unable to join, you can view a recording on HMRC’s YouTube channel.
HMRC have also sent the below update on the CJRS which contains important advice for claimants.
“More than 285,000 businesses have already applied for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since it went live on Monday 20 April.
Accessing the system
We have noticed that some people have had difficulty accessing the system because they do not have an active PAYE enrolment. In order to make a claim they will need to:
- have a Government Gateway (GG) ID and password – if they don’t already have a GG account, they can apply here, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for 'HMRC services: sign in or register';
- be enrolled for PAYE online – if they aren’t registered yet, they can do so now, or by going to GOV.UK and searching for 'PAYE Online for employers'.
I’m pleased to say that we were able to investigate and resolve the issue quickly thanks to the agents who raised an issue with authorisations when the new system first went live on Monday morning.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Calculator
We are updating the online calculator tool so that it covers more employment circumstances this afternoon. The update will mean that employers can use it to work out what they can claim for most employees who are paid irregular amounts each pay period, as well as those who are paid fixed amounts.
Webinars now available
To support businesses, we have been offering live webinars on a variety of Covid-19 related topics, including the Job Retention Scheme and how to make a JRS claim.
Employers can book a place on our 'how to' JRS webinars here.
They can book a place on any of our other webinars or watch a recording on HMRC’s YouTube channel
If employers have already made a claim
Employers should retain all records and calculations for their claims, in case we need to contact them. Provided their claim is made in accordance with HMRC’s published guidance, they can expect to receive the funds six working days after their application. We ask them not to contact us before this time.
HMRC will check claims made through the scheme and will act to protect public money against anyone who makes a claim using dishonest or fraudulent information.
We continue to be busy supporting customers at this time, so we would ask that they only call us if they can’t find what they need on GOV.UK or through our webchat service - this will leave our lines open for those who need our help most.
We’d encourage all employers to also protect their own credentials from potential scammers and opportunist criminal activity.”
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